Thursday, June 30, 2011

Richard III - Thursday Guest: Rob Moran


I am currently illustrating the graphic novel of RICHARD III for Classical Comics, 176 plus pages of Shakespearian goodness, or badness, since it is Richard; an epic task for an epic tale but one I am adoring… I get to draw things I love to draw, like horses, ravens, crumbly old castles, armour and devious doings amongst the dastardly dukes. Great stuff!

And with that we finish our June Thursday Guest Post. What a month, many thanks to Rob for sharing his fantastic work with us. Remember to check out his website for more!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Out with the old...



A double post today to celebrate the impending Scotch Corner day At Kingdom of Adventure in Fife on Saturday, and the month of July featuring a stellar list of awesome lining up here every day until August. An old oil from 2002 done in Japan for practice, and an RPG illustration from Medieval France, by and © Morrigan Press 2006. Cripes, how time flies, eh?

A massive thank you to those contributing over the next few weeks - I'm humbled by the company. Cheers all!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Deadworld's finest

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,2000ad,Judge DeathI've probably sketched Judge Death as much as Judge Dredd in my time and why not he's 'dead' cool (ha! I'm a genius). I like drawing him a lot, see here's another one…

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,2000ad,Judge Death

Monday, June 27, 2011

Jonday - do thine eyes deceive thee?

Or yet verily hath the intarwebs turned Tuesday into Monday and through retro posting my missed Monday slot hath appeared yet only 12 hours astray.

Or something what I don't know I don't get paid to be here you know.


Ahem.

Further art previews for The One Ring

A Barding - one of the fellows from Dale: "Led by King Bard, the Bowman and Dragon-slayer, the Bardings have rapidly rebuilt Dale and are the fastest-growing power in Wilderland. A prosperous culture, Barding merchants seeking new markets for their goods are the driving force in the efforts to reclaim Wilderland in the name of civilisation."
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Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Fink

I never had the chance to do the Fink at my time at 2000ad but I worked on this painted illo from last year for the 2000ad February art challenge.

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I took the viewpont from a spy cam which kept the character himself, fuzzy and obscure hopefully adding to his mystique.
Zarjaz 12, the 2000ad fanzine will be out in a week or two and features a wraparound
Dredd cover by me. Check it out if you get a chance.
http://thequaequamblog.blogspot.com/

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Loup Garou

It was werewolf day on the DrawBridge, but I was too late. So Drawbridge's loss is Scotch Corner's gain.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Y is for Ymir





Marvel A - Z week 25: Ymir

Click on the images for larger versions.

Not at all who i was planning on doing this week but short time frame to do it in so thought this would be a quick and easy one. Ymir is one of the oldest and most powerful Frost Giants from the Thor universe. The Frost giants appear in the Thor movie but the look there is quite different from the comic versions. On a sidenote the Thor movie is actually quite a decent superhero flick - check it out if you haven't already (don't bother with the 3D version though - it just spoils some of the fight scenes and other scenes look like cardboard cut outs- stick to the 2D version if you can).

Thursday, June 23, 2011

House of Horrors - Thursday Guest: Rob Moran


A mock cover for a non-existent comic I’d love to read; this displays my love for the fabulous physiognomy of the immortal Rondo Hatton, whose acromegallian aspect was so ugly it was almost beautiful. The movie the comic homage came from is not great but any movie with Rondo is worth a watch.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

All aboard the Skylark!


Still playing with the Watercolour in Artrage. liking it. need to try it out on something proper sometime.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Vader

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,Star Wars,Darth VaderI did this sketch of Mr Vader to take along to the Glasgow Comic Con a companion sketch to the Stormtrooper from last week, he's a popular chap as he was one of the first sketches to be sold.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Out of office reply service

Alex is not at Scotch Corner today because he has a bloody sore head from the drink. Normal service will be resumed next week. Thanks to all that voted for me at yesterday's Glasgow Con. Best Artist for Vampire Vixens. Totally chuffed. Cheers!
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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Sarah Jane

Hey all, its Graeme here. Sometimes I get a message from one of the guys saying 'Hells teeth I've forgotten to set up my post and I've just got on a plane', well okay its usually just Gary that does that but for once it was Simon. So I get the chance to go and pick an image for him and this one of the brilliant Elizabeth Sladen makes me so happy that I couldn't resist.

Friday, June 17, 2011

X is for X-23





Marvel A - Z week 24: X-23

Click on the images for larger versions.

Just to prove that i do read modern Marvel comics and i'm not completely stuck in my old school Marvel ways (but mostly because i couldn't find many characters starting with X) this week it's the turn of X-23. I've not actually read any of her own series but have caught the character in some X-Men and X-Force books. Another one of Marvel's 'clones' (in this case literally) of their popular characters. Over the last few years Wolverine has gained an extended family, a grown up son etc. and he has taken up a father-figure role for this character albeit she is actually a genetically created female version of himself. Grown as the ultimate secret weapon/assassin she is more lethal and violent (apparently) than Wolverine. She eventually escaped from her creators/captors and is currenty undergoing assimilation into the 'real-world' via Wolverine and the X-Men.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

It's our Birthday and we'll podcast if we want to!

On the first day of July Scotch Corner will be celebrating its 2nd Birthday, two years already I hear you cry! Well, we are pretty pleased about it so we've decided to have a celebration. Throughout July we've decided to take a break and hand over the blog to some excellent guests like Roger Langridge, Anton Emdin, James Ryman, Bob Eggleton, Chris Weston and Mick McMahon to name just a few. We have no idea just how many guests there will be as the contributions keep rolling in but it looks like most if not all of July will be Guest-athon!

Oh, we know you'll miss the seven regulars but to make up for that we are having a get together on the 2nd of July at Kingdom of Adventure in Kirkcaldy, Fife and we'd love to see you all there. From noon in the shop, Gary Erskine, Tom Crielly, Andy Hepworth, Jon Hodgson and Graeme Neil Reid will be around to chat, sketch and sign anything you bring us. But the real fun comes at 2pm when we invite everyone to come and record a podcast with us. We'll be joined by the powers of Skype by Mr Simon Fraser and we'll be happy to answer any questions or you can just let us ramble on in this unscripted but no doubt hilarious attempt at a podcast. To sweeten the blow we'll bring along some prizes for the eager audience which we'll randomly distribute for the best questions we receive.

So July is full of cool stuff for Scotch Corner we hope you enjoy it and come along to the Kingdom of Adventure and say hello!

Bullet Proof Blonde - Thursday Guest: Rob Moran

I’m doing an on-going series of noir style illos because I intend to publish a book of these illustrations at some point… I’ve drawn quite a few already but a have many more to do. I love noir in all its forms, film, books, art whatever and am never happier then when mired in the murky underbelly of the noir world.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

More Nightfall


Another nightfall card again this week from the up and coming July set (here)

©AEG 2011

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

tk-421?

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,Star Wars,Stormtrooper
Last time (and first time) I drew a Stormtrooper was for a kids tumbler cup many many moons ago so it was fun to sketch this fellow in white although really it became more of a 'what not to ink' experiment.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Jonday

This post must have got briefly lodged in an intartube somewhere. Must clean out my router.
Another one for Azuran:

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Bombs away!

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Along with her sisters in arms, This Luftwaffe Vixen is one of the villains of Vampire Vixens of the Wehrmacht. she plays a major part in the third episode which all takes place in the sky above the English Channel. It's "Tally Ho Chaps" and "bare bums at 8 o'clock" later in the year.

The Vixens strips had write up on the Forbidden Planet Blog last week:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/vampire-vixens/

And on a side note, I've been shortlisted for Best Artist at the Scottish Indy Comic Awards for my work on Vixens. It's the public that decide the winner so if you are at the Glasgow Con next week and psychic pensioners and Nazi women from Hell are you thing...

Fashion

Friday, June 10, 2011

W is for Woodgod





Marvel A - Z week 23: Woodgod

Click on the images for larger versions.

Woodgod is the result of your basic half-man half-beast science experiments. I've drawn the original version ala Keith Giffen/Klaus Janson and John Byrne from the 70's (i think). Since then he's had a full forest of half-man half- beastie companions and i think a few artists chose to make him more monstrous - but i prefer the simple original design so stuck with that.

Another rush job this week - really need to do these in advance - got home to a house full of sick kids so didn't really get to colour this up as i would have liked but thought i should squeeze it in as it is before my Friday deadline is up.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Doctor Tom - Thursday Guest: Rob Moran

What can I say – Tom Baker was my favourite Doctor Who ever and still is (though I did love David Tennant’s run), I have a companion piece to this pencilled featuring Jon Pertwee which I will get to inking one day. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Digital Watercolour


A bit of a dabble with Artrage's watercolour brushes for a different result than I normally go for.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Enough to send a Judda down your…

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,2000adBack in 1987 the seventh part of the Judge Dredd epic 'Oz' featured the first appearance of the Judda who look like Judge Dredd drawn by Jack Kirby really. Artist Brendan McCarthy brought these crazy looking clone Judges to life and I couldn't believe me eyes when I first saw them. 'Oz' was a long story and it had a wide selection of artists working on it, thankfully Brendan seemed to cover most of the issues that involved the Judda, in fact I think Will Simpson was the only other artist to draw them in the strip (although John Higgins did some amazing covers featuring them) and he did a great job but it lacked the flare and imagination that Brendan added. I'd have loved to seen Cam Kennedy's take on them.

I couldn't resist having a go a drawing one after re-reading 'Oz' the other week, I enjoyed it so much I drew another one. One of the great things about the Judda is that they have no set uniform so any crazy over the top Judge uniform is fine, well as long as you don't forget to give them massive boots and a 'power staff/rod/thingy'.

Graeme Neil Reid,Illustration,2000ad

Monday, June 6, 2011

Jonday: Actually new work shocker

A late night freepaint from last week. An hour all in. Artrage 3.
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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Mean at speed.

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This is a speed painted Mean machine from a while back. Quick and a bit rougher than I usually try to do but sometimes quick n' rough retains a bit of energy.

That Commission

It was stapled around some random comics pages then stuck into a Mylar bag.

Friday, June 3, 2011

V is for Vulture





Marvel A - Z week 22: The Vulture

Click on the images for larger versions.

The Vulture is one of Spider-Man's oldest(in more ways than one)recurring villians - he's a sturdy old bloke being that he was a pensioner back in the 60's. Basically a grumpy old man who took the huff when his business partner swindled him out of the business profits from inventions and gadgets that he had created. Using his inventions to create his flying suit he sought out revenge and then took to a life of crime realising that an honest days work is a mugs game.

On a side note i spent all last night wiping viruses from my PC so this was a bit of a rush job to squeeze in today - i realised i wasn't going to have time to draw a decent cityscape background in time, so i took the chance to try out this technique (which i had been meaning to do for a while anyway). From memory John Byrne used this a lot on his Alpha Flight run - although back then it was probably done with a photocopier and pritt-stick rather than photoshop.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

BatCat - Thursday Guest: Rob Moran

Oh boy are we in for a treat this month, please welcome Rob Moran to the Thursday post!

One of a series of illustrations from the – BATMAN: THE LOST SERIAL series; I had been watching a slew of those old film serials, THE SHADOW, THE SPIDER, THE PHANTOM, CAPTAIN MARVEL and, most of all the old BATMAN serials. They are cheesier than Quavers but I love them, Gawd help me and decided to draw up a series of drawings featuring the serial Batman but doing what the people who created the serial films never did…use Batman’s pantheon of classic villains, also done in that ‘serial’ style. This is my personal favourite – CATWOMAN; I don’t have an iota of the talent Alex Raymond had but this is the closest thing to a sexy, sophisticated Raymond femme fatale I’ve ever drawn.

An awesome start to Rob's posts, be sure to drop by his website and of course we had to ask him some questions!

What was your first published work? My first paid for published work was for a local newspaper; a series of satirical cartoon illustrations to accompany a series of articles…I was sixteen at the time. I soon found out that making satire truthful can be dangerous when I portrayed the editor as a raving alcoholic (which he was), and promptly got fired.

Who or what inspires you? My primary inspiration is my wife, Aileen; she is and always has been my biggest fan, supporter and believer in my work.

There are many artists who inspire me, most of whom are sadly gone now; a VERY short list would be – Al Williamson (a huge influence), Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, Don Lawrence, Frank Hampson, Frank Bellamy, Jim Holdaway, Jesus Blasco (another huge influence), Luis Garcia, Fernando Fernandez, Dino Battaglia, Sergio Toppi, Alberto Breccia…and many, MANY more.

What would be your dream job to illustrate? Ooooh…I have a few; I’d love to do a huge illustrated book devoted to the stories of H. P. Lovecraft, kind of like Berni Wrightson did with Frankenstein.

I’d love to draw certain comic strips I’ve adored since childhood – the pinnacle of those being Modesty Blaise or Garth. Comic book wise; I’d like to draw Batman, The Shadow, Steranko period Nick Fury, Captain America, Daredevil or the Punisher. I would dearly love to draw an issue or two of my favourite comic book in the whole wide world – Dylan Dog.

What can he expect to see from you next (what are you working on)? Currently and for the next eighteen months or so I will be drawing the graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare’s RICHARD III for Classical Comics; a huge undertaking but one I am very happy doing. I also have a strip to complete for an anthology of stories by writer Paul N. Neal, alongside the likes of Glen Fabry, Steve Pugh and John McCrea. Plus I am lined up to illustrate a book based on The Saint character with writer Mark Ellis for Moonstone Books.

If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing? Hmm…I’d like to think I’d have been either a physicist or an opera singer but more likely I’d have ended up as a serial killer or some other kind of psychotic criminal.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Mongol General


It isn't really a Mongolian General - he's a Unicorn clan leader from the Legend of The Five Rings CCG, who happen to be broadly based on medieval Mongolians. This card was recently previewed here, so its good for me to show at last.

©AEG 2011